Rural US carriers: we could learn a thing or two from Japan

Rural telcos want the FCC to take inspiration from Japan, whose biggest …

It looks like the trade group representing rural mobile service carriers is running out of patience with the Federal Communications Commission. It has been two years, the Rural Cellular Association complains, since it asked the FCC to investigate the problem of exclusive deals between handset makers and big carriers like AT&T and Verizon.

And it has been over a year since FCC Chair Julius Genachowski assured Senator John Kerry (D-MA) that he'd give the question proper attention. "Yes, if confirmed, I will ensure that the full record on the RCA petition is reviewed, and act accordingly to promote competition and consumer choice," Genachowski declared, even before he formally took the job.

So where, RCA asks, are the results? "Rural consumers are still waiting for access to cutting-edge devices," the group laments.

RCA affiliates hate these AT&T/iPhone or Verizon/Storm deals because they lock them out of being being able to offer the hottest new mobiles to their customers. There's been some back and forth between Verizon and these carriers over the issue, but with uncertain results.

Now RCA says it wants the FCC to turn to Japan for inspiration on this issue. Two weeks ago that country's biggest mobile operator, NTT Docomo, announced that it will unlock the subscriber identity module (SIM) cards on all its handsets starting in April 2011. That means mobile subscribers who request the unlock will be able to use their device with another carrier by switching SIM cards.

It would be consistent

Docomo made the move in response to Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which called upon all wireless companies to voluntarily enact the reform.

The FCC making the same request "would be consistent with the pro-competition, light regulatory touch concept that wireless carriers broadly support," the RCA letter contends, and asks the Commission "to take immediate pro-consumer action to end handset exclusivity."

Go ubiquitous

And it isn't like the FCC has done nothing about the exclusive handset issue, examining various arrangements, especially the AT&T/iPhone deal. And in August of last year, the agency launched a far-reaching investigation of competition in the wireless industry.

But thus far that probe appears to be in the, well, early investigative stages of its development, prompting RCA to ask the government to get on the ball.

"To achieve its goal of ubiquitous broadband throughout the US, the FCC should encourage US wireless carriers to provide US consumers with the same competitive choices that Japanese consumers soon will have," RCA's missive concludes.

Matthew Lasar
Matt writes for Ars Technica about media/technology history, intellectual property, the FCC, or the Internet in general. He teaches United States history and politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Emailmatthew.lasar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@matthewlasar